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Rams43
And we’re barely into the 2nd wave of FA.
Where to start?
Joyner’s Ram future? What future? Weddle is a clear upgrade, although a short term one. Agree
Peters. Rams kept him and want to see him prove himself this year before any extension decisions are made. There had been some speculation that he might have been traded/cut in a cap move after he struggled so much last season. Guarnteed contract he was never going to be cut
Barron. Coaches evidently saw what we fans saw and they made the cap move/better fit decision.Average player high cost always hurt
Fowler. Lot of fans saw this as 50-50, but the Rams must have really liked his upside trajectory and gave him a pricey one year extension. Fingers crossed. Edge was a huge need, and still is, IMO. player okay they must thing they can develop him
Suh. AKA “the coaster”. Lol. Too much money for too little effort. Wasn’t a hard decision, especially with the DL talent in this particular draft. Agree high cost average production
Brockers. Another player that there was cap saving speculation about, but the Rams obviously liked him and his flexibility, even with the $11M pricetag. Played out of position will move back to normal position and a area of need
Ebu. Stay tuned. He’s not going anywhere, of course, but his starter status is up in the air.Small school guy with a lot of talent and now has experience. Production was subpar and will have to fight for his job.
Clay Matthews. Vet leader that can maybe help on edge or inside. Kinda tells us that the coaches saw need for improvement in both areas. IOW, coaches weren’t happy with their LB play last year other than Littleton. CM reportedly signed for $10M base for the 2 years combined, so that makes him affordable, at least. And he’s almost certain to be an upgrade whereever Wade schemes him. What does this signing mean for Ebu and/or Kiser? They love his versatility and experience believe he will produce
Sully. Sadly, the coaches recognized the obvious. Father Time had caught up with him late in the season. Let’s hope that Kromer has Allen ready to start. Or Blythe? Or maybe even a draft pick? Didn't play well and cost too much, had Allen ready to go.
Saffold. A tough decision for the coaches. Saffold was/is elite but the Rams couldn’t handle the cap hit that he would have consumed. Best of luck, Rodger, and thanks for the memories, man. It was Fowler or Safford and they chose Fowler as the believe Noteboom is ready
Malcolm Brown vs CJ Anderson. Clearly, McVay preferred MB and I agree. CJ was invaluable late last season, but let’s be honest. That Ram OL was dominating and CJ had many nice holes to run through. IMO, MB is the better backup and McVay must have felt the same. I think they really like Brown and nobody is calling on CJ anyway.
Mannion. This was a no brainer. Bortles for $1M for the year? Is this a trick question? Lol.Mannion really sucked an we would be in a world of hurt if Goff went down. Now with Bortles and our coaching staff we can sustain an injury and still compete.
So there you have it. Quite a few speculative players have had questions answered by FO/coaching decisions already and the draft isn’t for another 6 weeks.
Any surprises (or disappointments) in that mix for y’all?
I think the squad is pretty well set and we can project the starters at each position and in most cases the key backups. We have a lot of 2nd year players projected to start in JMF, Noteboom, Kiser, and Allen with little depth behind them except maybe for Kiser with Mathews so it is a bit scary. Still need rotational depth on DL and backup depth at OL. Need to get a at least one CB ready for 2020 and maybe 2. Edge may still be an issue. So while we have a lot of needs none of them require immediate contributions except for DL rotation . We need to accept that a high quality Edge that can make an immediate impact will not be there when we pick and that the will be better value when we pick or if we drop down into Round 2 at the other positions of need.
Anyway that is how I see things right now but Snead may be good for a few surprises as he is known for the unexpected.
